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| Curtis Leebens-Mack | |
|---|---|
| Name | Curtis Leebens-Mack |
| Nationality | American |
| Fields | Plant biology, Genomics, Evolutionary biology |
| Workplaces | University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign |
| Alma mater | Harvard University, University of California, Berkeley |
Curtis Leebens-Mack is an American plant biologist and evolutionary genomicist known for work on land plant evolution, transcriptomics, and computational phylogenetics. He directs research that integrates molecular data, paleobotanical context, and developmental biology, collaborating with laboratories and institutions across North America and Europe. His work intersects with major projects and organizations in biology and genomics, informing comparative studies spanning algae to angiosperms.
Leebens-Mack completed undergraduate and graduate training in environments associated with Harvard University and the University of California, Berkeley, studying under mentors connected to programs at the Smithsonian Institution and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. His formative education included coursework and laboratory rotations that engaged techniques from laboratories affiliated with National Science Foundation-funded initiatives and collaborations with researchers at the University of California system and the Museum of Natural History, New York. During graduate study he participated in fieldwork and collections associated with herbaria linked to Missouri Botanical Garden and the New York Botanical Garden.
Leebens-Mack has held faculty positions at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign within departments that collaborate with units at the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, the Institute for Genomic Biology, and cross-disciplinary centers partnering with investigators from Max Planck Society-affiliated institutes and the Broad Institute. He has served on committees and editorial boards interacting with journals published by organizations such as the American Society of Plant Biologists, the Genetics Society of America, and publishers linked to the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution. His laboratory has hosted visiting researchers from institutions including Harvard University, Yale University, Stanford University, University of California, Davis, and international partners at University of Oxford and University of Cambridge.
Leebens-Mack's research emphasizes transcriptomic sequencing, phylogenomics, and the origin of key innovations in land plants, contributing to collaborative projects that include datasets comparable to those from the 1000 Plant Transcriptomes Project and international consortia coordinated with the European Molecular Biology Laboratory and the DOE Joint Genome Institute. He has published studies that integrate data types used by researchers at Salk Institute for Biological Studies, Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, and the John Innes Centre to resolve deep relationships among bryophytes, lycophytes, ferns, gymnosperms, and angiosperms, often referencing methodological frameworks developed at National Center for Biotechnology Information and computational approaches from the Carnegie Institution for Science. His work on gene family evolution and developmental regulators has appeared alongside contributions from groups at Princeton University, Columbia University, University of California, Santa Barbara, and Washington University in St. Louis. Notable publications include comparative analyses that have been cited by teams at the Royal Society journals and articles informing syntheses in venues associated with the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and Nature Ecology & Evolution.
Leebens-Mack's recognition includes grants and fellowships from agencies and foundations such as the National Science Foundation, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, and institutional awards administered by the University of Illinois. He has been invited to present keynote and plenary talks at meetings organized by the Botanical Society of America, the International Botanical Congress, and symposia hosted by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. His laboratory's datasets have been incorporated into community resources maintained by consortiums including the Phytozome initiative and referenced in reviews from the Annual Review of Plant Biology.
Outside of laboratory research, Leebens-Mack has engaged in outreach and education through public lectures coordinated with the Chicago Botanic Garden, civic science programs in collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution, and citizen science platforms connected to the National Geographic Society. He has participated in curriculum development with faculty at the University of Illinois and contributed to training workshops supported by the Gordon Research Conferences and the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory to mentor early-career scientists and graduate students.
Category:American biologists Category:Plant biologists Category:University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign faculty